Can-filling machine.



F. MPWRIGHL- CAN FILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1913.

Patented Aug. 24, 1915.

I SHEETS-SHEET I.

(U CO gvwewtoz V I, v 35% M F. M. WRIGHT.

CAN FILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21. 1913.

Patented Aug. 24, 1915.

7SHEETSSHEET 2.

FRaNK'MwmGHT WWW wi i mexmeo F. M. WRIGHT.

CAN FILLING MACHINE} ,APPLICATION FILED MAY 21. 1913.

Patented'Aug. 24, 1915.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

FRHNK M. WRKSHT F. M. WRIGHT. CAN FILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FIPED MAY 21, I913- Patented Aug. 24, 1915.

7 SHEETSSHEET 4.

gmueuio'a FRHNK M- WRIGHT F. WRIGHT. CAN FILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYZII 1913.

Patent-ed Aug. 24, 1915.

YSHEETS-SHEET 51 FRANK M- WRKSHT F. M. WRIGHT. CAN FILLING MACHINE.APPLICATION FILED MAY 21. 1913 Patented Aug. 24, 1915.

\III.

7 SHEETSSHEET 6.

awuzmoz FRBNK 1 1. WR\GHT wi/liweooeo F. M. WRIGHT.

CA'N FILLING MACHINE.- APPLICATION FILED MAY 21. 1913.

Patented Aug. 24, 1915.

7 SHEETSSHEET 7.

III In I ll IIFIHIII I I III] llllllllllHllll lllHlll STATES PATENTOFFICE.

FRANK M. WRIGHT, OF LYONS, NEW YORK.

CAN-FILLING; MACHINE.

, Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Ai g, 24, 1915,

Application filed May 21, 1913. Serial No. 769,106.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK M. WRIGHT, a citizen ofthe United States,residing at Lyons, in the county of l/Vayne and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Can-Filling Mathischaracter which will be provided'withmechanism for receiving, rightingand feedmg cans from a chute to a vertically movable plate to be raisedto a spout or funnel v and receive the sauer kraut or other productsfrom a feeding hopper. Another object is to provide a machine of thischaracter which may be provided with means for automatically opening andclosing a .cut off valve within the spout or funnel as the cans areengaged with and disengaged from said spout or funnel.

Another object is to provide a machine of this character which will beconstructed in such manner that operation of the can feed: ing mechanismwill be discontinued during the operation of filling the cans and againoperated after the filling of each can until the succeeding can isdelivered to the plate and raised into engagement with the spout orfunnel.

Another object is to provide machine of this character which will beprovided with a plurality of can feeding chutes, can conducting belts,etc., and an equalizer bar connected with each can receiving and raisingplate or table and having a weight adjustably mounted thereon forregulating the amount of sauer kraut or other products or materials tobe packed in each can.

- A further object is to provide a machine of this character which willbe of such construction that the receiving hopper above each fillinghopper will be divided into two I compartments with a screw extendingtransversely beneath the two compartments for feeding the sauer krautfrom the receiving hopper; to the intermediate hopper from ing thefilling spout-or funnel and a return screw beneath the secondcompartment of the receiving or uppermost hopper for preventingover-feeding of sauerkraut to the intermediate or second hopper andthereby interfering with the proper operation of the-radial plates uponthe rotary shaft ,in said intermediate or second hopper for depositingthe sauer kraut upon the feed worm within the feed hopper.

A further ob ect is to generally improve and simplify the constructionand operation electrical connections between certain operative parts ofthe device and generally increase. the etficiency and value of themachine.

With the above and other objects in view, this invention consists in thenovel features 'of construction, combination and arrangeof machines ofthis character and provide.

ment of parts to be hereinafter more fully described, claimed andillustrated in the ac companying drawings, in which' Figure 1 is a sideelevational view of the complete device; Fig. 2 is a view similar toFig. 1, looking at the opposite side of the machine, parts of themachine being broken away in this view for the sakeof clearness; Fig. 3is a rear elevational view of the complete machine; Fig. 4 is a detailvertical cross-sectional view 011- the line H of Fig. 1 looking in thedirection indicated by the arrow; Fig. 5 is a top plan View of theuppermost hopper and parts carried thereby; Fig. 6 is an enlarged detailcross-sectional view through the main frame member and can conveyingchain with a can in position upon the chain with a portion of the canbroken away, said view showing in elevation the rear end of theequalizer bar in position in its guide member also clearly illustratingthemeans for retaining the equalizer bar in its uppermost position andthe electrical contact memberscarried b'ythe equalizer bar and guidemember; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary detail view of the equalizer bar; Fig. 8is a fragmentary top plan view of the same and the poise or weihtcarriedthereby; Fig. 9 is a detail crosssectional view on the line 99of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a detail view partly in section of the slide valvefor the lower end of one of the spouts and the mechanism for operatingthe slide bar,-sa1d view also showing in dotted lines a can in posithisview in open position; Fig. 11 is a detail tion to be filled, the valvebeing shown in i top plan view of'the trigger bars in normal position,said view-also showing the parts connected with one of the trigger barsand the star-shaped can separating and raising wheel, showing in dottedlines a can in each of the longitudinal grooves of saldwheel,

the shaft of said wheel shown in cross-seetion; Fig. let is a detailview of one of the can righting wheels, showing the shaftof the same incross-section; Fig. 15 is a detail elevational view of the maltese crosswheel .and'geneva gear for operating. the sprocket chain which impartsvintermittent rotary -'movement to the. turret shaft; Fig. 16 is a Fig.20 is an end elevational view thereof;

Fig. 21 is a side elevational view thereof with a portion of thedepending member carried by the table broken away; and Fig.

, 22 is a detail plan View showing the shafts upon which thecanseparating and raising wheel and the can righting wheels are mounted,said view showing the operative connections between these shafts. Fig.23

. is a detail sectional view on the line .2323

of Fig. 10; and Fig. 24 is a detail plan view of the extended end of theturret shaft and gears carried upon the same. Figs. 25 and 26 arefragmentary detail views of certain parts of the operating mechanism.

Referring more specifically to the drawings in which similar referencecharacters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, 1designates the receiving oruppermost hopper, which is divided into twocompartments designated by the numerals 2 and 3 separated by thelongitudinal vertical partition 4. Extending transversely beneath thecompartments 2 and 3 and the partition 4E of'the hopper 1, is a trough 5within which is positioned the feed screw 6, the shaft 7 of whichextends through the opposite ends of the/trough 5. It will be understoodthat the trough 5 is located near the front edge of the lower portion ofthe hopper while a second trough 8 is formed under the hopper 1,adjacent the rear edge of said hopper, the bottom of the portion of thetrough 8 beneath the compartment 2,

being inclined toward the outer side of said compartment, the purposeofwhich will presently be apparent.

Within the portion of the trough 8 beneath the compartment'3, however,is positioned the return screw 9 which has the ends of its shaft 10mounted in the partition 4: and the outer's'ide wall of the compartment3. The shafts 7 and 10 are parallel to one anotherv and it will beunderstood tha the partition 4 is cut away below the shait 10 and alsosuitably cut away. above the trough 5 to accommodate the feed screw 6and allow said feed screw to feed the sauer kraut or other productplaced in the compartment 2 to the compartment 3. The return screw '9serves to return the sauer kraut or other products to the compartment 2,should an over amount be fed to the compartment 3 by the feed screw 6,thereby eliminating all danger. of choking the intermediate h0pper 11.

The intermediate hopper 11 is positioned immediately beneath the secondcompartment 3. of thehopper l and is provided with flat vertical sidewalls and outwardly curved front and rear walls, as clearly shown inthedrawings. Extending centrally and transversely throughtheintermediate hopper 11 is a shaft 12 upon which are mounted radiallyextendingplates 13 upon which is de posited the sauer kraut or otherproduct from the feed screw (3 and which in turn deposits the sauerkrautin the lower or feed hopper 14 and upon the feed worms 15 in theinclined bottom portion of said lower or feed hopper 1 1.

It will be understood that the portion of the trough 5 beneath thecompartments 2 'and 3 of the hopper 1 opens into the intermediate hopper11 while the trough S is provided with an open bottom beneath thecompartment 3 and the solid inclined bottom beneath the compartment 2 ofsaid hopper 1. The lower or feed hopper 1+. is provided with flatvertical sides and an inclined hinged back 14' forming a continuationof.

the curved back of the intermediate hopper 11, while the front of thehopper is vertical the hopper,-said spouts or funnels therefore being atthe lowermost portion of the hopper 14-. It will also be seen that thelower ends of the feed worms 15 project into the spouts or funnels 18,said worms being formed upon the shafts 19 which have their gears 21 andoperated by the latterjeach worm gear 21 being carried upon the upperend of a vertical shaft 22 which has a friction wheel 23 mounted uponits lower end.

Each spout or funnel 18 has a reduced circular lower edge 24 forengagement within theupper end of each can,25 during the operation offilling the same, he can being automatic-ally raised and its upper endengaged around said lower circu'l'i r edge 24 of the spout or funnel 18,by means of the novel and improved mechanism .which will be later fullydescribed.

The spout or funnel 18 is normally closed by the cut-off valve 26 whichis slidably engaged through the lower portion of said spout or funneland'which has the upwardly extending lug 27 .formedu'pon its outerextremity and the upwardly and forwardly directed arm 28 inwardly ofsaid extremity,

the forwardly directed portion of said arm being directed toward theouter extremity of the cut off valve, which it will be understood is inthe form of a flat plate or strip having its rear end slidably engagedthrough the spout oixfunnel 18, as previously mentioned. The cut offvalve 26 is opened and closed by means of the reciprocating latch dog 29connected to the cam wheel 30 upon the shaft 31 which is continually inrotation.

The latch dog '29 is normally retained in raised position and out ofengagement with the lug 27 by means of the pony jack 32, it beingunderstood that the free extremity of the arm 28 is in a horizontalplane above the horizontal plane of the lug 27. The

pony jack 32 is held in normal position by means of the coil spring 33and said pony jack has an operating rod- 34 connected therewith and withthe trigger bar 35 whereby the pony jack 32 will be operated uponoperation of said trigger bar in onedirection to allow the free end ofthe latch dog 29 to drop downwardly and engage the lug 27 and therebydraw the cut off valve 26 forwardly to open the same and allow the sauerkraut or other product to be forced from the spout or funnel 18' intothe can25 engaged therewith. It willbe understood that the pony jack 32is locked in this position by means of the spring latch 182 carried uponthe support 190, as shown at 183.

Immediately after the can has been filled and returned to its lowermostposition with the table, thereby returning the eoualizer bar .40 to itsuppermost position, engaging the contact plates 58 and 60, andcompleting a circuit, the electric current will pass through the wires186 causing the magnet 185 to attract the lateral arm 184 of the springlatch 182 and thereby draw the free end of the spring latch 182rearwardly to allow the spring 33 to return the pony jack 32 to nor malposition, said spring 33 being carried in the socket 192 connected tothe support 190, thereby raising the reciprocating latch dog 29 andcausing the same to strike the forwardly directed arm 28 of the cut offvalve and force the same inwardly, closing the spout 18. The chain 50will again be broughtinto operation to drawthe filled can from upon thetable and bring the next can into position. It will be understood thatowing to the fact that the pony jack is connected with the trigger bar35 by means .of the rod 34, said trigger bar will be returned to itsnormal position upon the return of the pony jack to its normal positionto be again operated upon outward movement of the trigger bar as thenext can passes between the trigger bars 35 and 70, said pony jackriding over the spring latch 182 until a corresponding number of'spoutsor funnels 18.. It will further be evident that a cut off valve 26 andmeans for operating the same must be provided for each spout or funneland a. can receiving and raising plate or table 36 positioned'beneatheach spout or funnel 18. A rod 37 is also connected at one end to thetrigger bar 35 and has its opposite end engaged against the equalizerlatch carrying bar 38 which has the equalizer latch member 39 mountedthereon for supporting the, free end of the horizontal arm of theequalizer bar 40 in its uppermost position, upon which arm is adjustablymounted the poise or weight 41. The vertical arm of the equalizer bar 40depends from the opposite end of the horizontal arm and extends slightlyforwardly and the equalizer bar is mounted at the junction of its armsupon the shaft 43, a suitable opening being provided at this point, asshown at 42, to accommodate the shaft. It will be understood that theshaft 43 is loosely mounted in the bracket member 52 and extendstransversely therethrough. It will be understood that the vertical armof the equalizer bar 40 is mounted upon the pin 44 in one end of theslide rod 45, said pin being carried in the rear end of the rod 45sliding in the pivotally supported bracket arm 45, the opposite end ofthe rod 45 being provided with an elongated longitudinal slot 45 throughwhich is engaged the pivot pin 46 mounted transversely in the lower endof the table raising post 46 which has its upper end securedto the underface of thetable 36. As herein embodied, the bracket arm 45' ispivotally engaged, as at -45, with the arm 45 depending from the framemember 49. As is believed to be self-evident, downward movement impartedto the post 46 under the influence'of the weight of a can positioned onthe table 36. will impart such rocking movement to the rod lf) about thepivot &5 as to elevate the long or horizontal arm of the equalizer bar-i0. Upon removal of the weighted can from the table.6, the table willbe returned to its uppermost position under the influence of the poiseor weight e1, in a mannerwhich is believed to be self-evident.

Thecan receiving. and raising table 36 is provided'in its upper facewith a deep longiti idinal channel 36 to accommodate the chain 50, aswill be later clearly understood.

' commodatethechain 50, as will be readily understood. The chain isengaged over the sprocket wheels 52 and 53 at opposite ends of the mainframe member and mounted in suitable brackets secured to the under faceof said fI'tUDCiDGIHbGl, it being understood that the sprocket wheels 52and 53 are carried upon the transverse shafts 54 and 55, respectively.The sprocket chain 50 has the laterally directed can engaging fingers 56upon its outer or upper face and at spaced 1 distances for, engagingcans 25 and retaining the same in position as they are moved by thechain 50. The main frame member 49 ismounted upon suitable standards 57which have their lower ends resting upon the floor or other stationarysupport. It will be apparent that the main frame member 49 may be formedof any suitable material and may be of any suitable length. It will beunderstood that the equalizer bar 40 has the contact plates 58 and -59i1pon its upper and lower faces at the free end of its horizontal armfor engagement with the 7 contact plates 60 and 61, respectively, to

" complete different circuits when the equalizerbai' isin its uppermostposition and lowermost position.- ranging the contact plates as justdescribed is to complete-electrical circuits and cause proper operationof other parts of the machine at the proper time, as will be.laterclearly apparent. It will further be seen ber.

It will be" understood that a The purpose of ai that the contact plate60 is secured in the upper end of the Ushaped guide member. 38 while thecontact plate 61 is carried at a lower point in said bar or guide 38,the contact plates 60 and 6libeing positioned atthe opposite ends of theelongated slot through which the end of the long arm of the equalizerbar 40 is engaged. The U- shaped guide members 38 has a dependingportion 62 at its lower end through which bolts 63 or other suitablesecuring means are engaged for securing the U-shaped guide member 38 tothe side'of the frame mem- The latch member 38 is in the form ofabarwhich is normally in vertical position and is fulcrumed to the rear faceof theU-shaped guide member 38, as shown at 64, and has the latch lug 39near its upper -end for engagement against the under. face of the longarm of the equalizer bar 4-0 to retain the same in its uppermostposition. The latch bar 33 has a slightly curved lower end 66 whichisnormally held partly over the opening through the car 67 projectingoutwardly from the side of the U-shaped guide member 38, by means ofthecoil spring 68 which has one end secured to the curved lower end of thelatch bar 38 while its opposite end is secured to a suitable lug '69upon the. rear-face of the'lower end of the U-shaped guide member. 38'.The latch bar 38 isadapted to be swung upon its fulcrum M by means ofthe rear free end of the rod 37, previously mentioned, extended throughthe perforated car 67 when the rod 37,'Wl11(3l1 has its opposite endconnected with the trigger bar 35, 1S swung in said car by outwardmovement of the trigger bar thereby withdrawing the lug 39 of the latchbar 38' from beneath theequalizer bar 40 and allowing said bar to dropto its lowermost position.

It will be understood that a second trigger bar 70 is positionedopposite the trigger bar 35 and turns in the bearing 71 providedtherefor. The lower end of the trigger bar '70 is turned outwardly atabout right angles.

as shown at 72, and connected with onc'end of the longitudinallyextending spring 73 which has its other end connected to the lug 7%projecting laterally from the main frame member 419 near the lower endof the triggerbar. The sleeve 75 carries a clutch leverengagingprojection 7 6 near itslower end and said sleeve is adapted. forpartial rotation around the stationarv rod 77 and 'upon turning of saidsleeve 75 by the forward movement of the'bar 73, the clutch leverengaging member 76 will engage against the. .clutch lever 78 and swingthe same upon its pivot 79 against the tension of the clutch leverspring 80 and thereby disengage the clutch member 81, carried upon thelower end of the lever 73 and slidably mounted upon the shaft 82, fromthe clutch member 83 carried by the'friction drive wheel 84, whichlatter is loosely mounted on one end of the shaft 82 and has thefriction wheel, 85 engaged therewith. -The friction-wheel 85 is mountedupon the lowerend of the inclined shaft 86 which has forwardly andcurved outwardly in oppos1te dlrections to receive therebetween, in

regular order, the cans 25 and guide said cans to proper position uporrthe table 36. It will also be understood that the trigger bar 35 has avertical portion rotatably mounted in a suitable bracket 35 upon theside of the main frame member 49 opposite the side upon which thebearing 71 is secured and that the forward end of the rod 37 is securedto the main or curved portion of the trigger bar, and to the lower endof the bar is secured one end of a suitable spring 35" which has itsopposite end secured to the main frame member 49 and serves toresiliently retain the trigger bar 35' in normal position. As thetrigger bar is resiliently retained in normal position by.

means of the spring 73 connected with its lower end and with the mainframe member 49, it will be understood that when the trigger bars 35 and70 are in normal position, the space between the curved upper endsthereof will be less than the diameter ofthe cans, thereby causing eachcan as it passes between the trigger bars to force the same outwardlyand thereby operate the .parts connected with the trigger bars to stopmovement of the chain 50 and release the equalizer bar 40 to allow thesame to drop to its lowermost position and raise the table.

The gear wheel 89 is mounted upon one end of the shaft 82 and engagedwith this transversely beneath the main frame mem- 65 tionecl parallelto the shaft 82 beneath the forward portion of the main frame member 419and mounted in suitable brackets 95 carried upon the frame members 93.The friction wheel 23 is engaged against the large friction wheel 96which is loosely mounted upon the shaft 91 and carries a clutch member97. A second clutch menr ber 98 is keyed to the shaft 9% and adapted forengagement with the clutch member 97 to lock said member 97 and frictionwheel 98 for rotation with the shaft 94: to drive the friction wheel 23and thereby rotate the vertical shaft 2-2 and cause the 'worm 21 engagedwith the worm wheel 20 to revolve the latter and thereby operate thefeed screw 15. It will be understood that the clutch member 98 isengaged with the clutch member 97 by turning the clutch lever 99 uponits fulcrum 100 and against the tension of its spring .101 by engagingthe clutch lever engaging member 102 with the upper end of said lever99. The member 102 is carried by the sleeve 103 which is rotatablyvmounted upon the stationary rod 104 and has a laterally projecting arm105 to which is pivoted one end of a' rod 106,, as shown at 107.Electrical connections are formed between the opposite end of the rod106 and the lower electrical contact plate 61 and a circuit is completedwhen the equalizer bar 40 drops to its lowermost position and thecontact plate 59 carried'thereby engages with the contact plate 61,thereby drawing the rod 106 rearwa'rdly and rotating the sleeve 103sufficiently to cause the lever engaging 'member 102 to swing the lever99 upon its fulcrum 100, as will be clearly understood. It willtherefore be seen that the clutch member 98 will be engaged with theclutch member 97 to operate the feed screw 15 after a can has beenengaged with the lower end of the spout 18 and the valve 28 has beenopened. It will also be understood that after the can 25 has been filledand the weight of the material within the same causes the can to movedownwardly and re turn the table 36 to its normal position, therebyovercoming the weight of the equalizer bar 40 and poise 11' upon thesame and returning the equalizer bar to its normal position, the contactplate 58 carried by the equalizer bar 40 will engage with the contactplate ()0 at the upper end of the shaped guide member 38 and therebycomplete a circuit to draw the spring latch 182 to inoperative positionand thereby allow the pony jack and parts connected there with to returnto normal position and close the val'ie 26.

The return of the equalizer bar to up per-most position and engagementof the contact plate 118 with the contact plate 60 cour- 1 4 ,N '1 1pletes th r '1 curu "11in which is positioned the m 177, cr sing thelatter to draw the roc r'erw Ly thereby turning the sleeve 75 againstthe tension of the spring 7 5 and causing the clutch lever engagingprojection 76 to engage with the clutch lever 78 causing the same toengage the clutch member 81 with the clutch member 83 to cause the chain50 to again move to carry the filled can fromupon the table 36 and bringthe next can into position to be filled in like manner. It will also beunderstood thatas the free end of the equalizer bar moves upwardly thecontact plate 59 will disengage from the contact plate 61 and allow the,spring 101 to return the rod 106 and sleeve 103 and parts connectedwith the latter to normal position and thereby permit the spring 101 toswing the lever 99 upon its fulcrum 100 and disengage the clutch member98 from the clutch member 97 and thereby discontinue operation of thefeed screw 15 until the next can is in position to be filled and thevalve 26 is again in open position, as will be readily apparent. It willalso be understood that the transverse'shaft 94 is operated from thetransverse shaft 82- by means of the longitudinal shaft 108 having thebevel gear 109 upon one end and engaged with the double bevel gear 110carried upon the end of the shaft 82 opposite the gear wheel 89 while abevel gear 111 is upon the opposite end of the shaft 108 and engagedwith the bevel gear 112 upon the corresponding end of the shaft 94.

Engaged with the other face of the double bevel gear 110 is a bevel gear113 upon the lower end of the long inclined shaft 114 which has a secondbevel gear 115 upon its upper end and engaged with the bevel gear 116mounted. upon one end of the shaft 7 upon which the screw 6 is carried.The shaft 7 also has loosely mounted upon this end, a gear wheel 117having the grooved collar 118 carried thereby having the lever 119engaged in the groove thereof with an operating rod 120 connected withits free end and running the full width of the machine, by means ofwhich the lever 119 may be readily operated to move the gear 117longitudinally upon the shaft 7 to cause the teeth to engage with theteeth of the gear wheel 121 mounted upon the shaft 10 of .the returnscrew 9 to operate said screw as oocasion may require. 1t will'beunderstood that cooperating clutch members 115 and 117 are carried bythe bevel gear 116 and gear wheel 117' respectively, tov cause theformer to rotate the latter when the clutch members are engaged.

The turret shaft 12 has a sprocket wheel 122 mounted upon its extendedend and engaged around this sprocket wheel is a sprocket also engaged a1und the 12 ),has a portion of its periphery concave,

as shown at 129' by cutting away a portion of said member and the pin orfinger 130 projects radiallyfrom the center of the concave portion 129for engagement in each of the slots 128 in turn, as the Geneva gear r0-tates with the gearing 112 and shaft 9%, rotating the Waltese crossone-fourth of a revolution upon each revolution of the Geneva gearing,the convex portions of the latter turning in the concave outer ends ofthe arms 127withoutihaving any effect on the Maltese cross, as will beclearly understood. It will therefore be seen that the turret 113 willbe properly operated to deposit the saucr kraut or material upon thescrews 15 and to return any excessive amount of material and presentthcsame to the return screw 0 to be re turned by the screw to thecompartment 2 of the hopper 1, as previously stated.

The cans 25 are conveyed to the chain from the chute 132 by novelmechanism which will now be described.

The lower portion of the long chute 132 is enlarged as shown at 133 anda shaft 131 is positioned transversely therethrough with the can liftingwheel 135 mounted thereon, said wheel having longitudinal grooves 130formed in its face of proper size to receive one can and raise the sameover the wheel as. the latter rotates, thereby separating the cans andpreventing more than one can being deposited upon the chain 50 at atime. The wheel 135 may be provided with any suitable number of canaccommodating grooves but I have provided the wheel with four suchgrooves and. it will be understood that the wheel is positioned in ahorizontal portion of the chute 132 near its connection withthe lowervertical end of chute which tapers. toward its lower extremity and is ofproper size to accommodate a can in upright position and prevent thesame from turning upon its sidev The lower portion of the chute isdesignated by the numeral 137. The shaft 13% has a pair of spaced. bevelgears 138 mounted thereon at spaced distances from the opposite ends ofthe can separating and lifting wheel 35 and a pair of parallel shafts130 extended at right angles to the shaft 13% and having the bevel arslei-Q upon their inner ends and eiwag r with the bevel gears 138 to beoperated l v the atter. ihe shafts 13 extend through the chute and liarthe upper 'errical portion 137 of 142 mounted thereon and each canrighting wheel comprises a hub 143 with curved spokes 144 projectingradially therefrom. As the shafts 139 are properly spaced from oneanother and rotated toward one another,

each can, as it is raised by the wheel 135 and dropped upon the canrighting wheels 142, owing to the fact that the length of the can isless than the distance between the can righting wheels, will be engagedby the curved spokes 144 of the can righting wheels and one spoke of thewheel at the open end of the can will enter the can and turn the same toupright position, thereby righting the can and causing the same to dropdown the reduced and tapered portion 137 of the chute until its closedor lower end rests upon the portion of the chain 50 traveling upon thelower open extremity of the chute, it being understood that the chute isproperly supported above the forward end of the main frame member 49 bysuitable standards 145. It will be understood that the front of thelower portion of the chute 137 is provided with a suitable opening 146to allow the can to move out of the chute and travel with the chain 50upon the main frame member 49, it being understood that the can 25 isengaged by one of the fingers 56 projecting from the chain 50.- j

The shaft 134 is rotated by means of a suitatble gear 147 mounted uponthe short shaft 148 and engaged with the bevel gear 149 upon an extendedend of the shaft 143. llhe shaft 148 is rotated by means of a sleeve 150which isengaged over one end of the shaft 148 and also over one end ofthe shaft 151 which has the bevel gear 152 mounted upon its lower endand engaged with the bevel gear 153 mounted upon the end of the shaft5-1. The sleeve 150 is slidably mounted upon the upper and lower ends ofthe shafts 14S and 151 respectively, and has diametrically oppositeelongated slots 154 in its upper end to accommodate the opposite ends ofa pin 155, extending transversely through the shaft 148 while the lowerend of the sleeve 150 is provided with the notches or recesses 156 inits lower end to receive the lugs 157 carried by the shaft 151. It willbe seen that when this sleeve is in its lowermost position the shaft 148will be rotatedupon rotation of the shaft 151. When the sleeve 156 israised, however, to disen gage the notches 156 from the lugs 157,rotation of the shaft 151 will have no effect upon the sleeve 150 andshaft 148. The sleeve 150 may be readily raised by means of the lever158 pivoted, as shown at 159, to the collar 160, which latter is looselyengaged around the reduced central portion 161 of the sleeve, the leverbeing fulcrumed to the fr.ame,,as shown at 162.

It will be understood that the latch dog 65 29 is jointed intermediateof its ends as shown at 163to allow the rear end of said dog to beraised by the pony jack 32, as previously described. It will also beunderstood that the roller 164 on the opposite end of the latch dog isnormally retained in engagement with the cam wheel by means of the coilspring 165 and that the shaft 31 upon which the cam wheel 30 is mountedis continually operated by means-of the belt 166 which is connected inany suitable manner to the power shaft 91. It will further be understoodthat the cans 25 are retained in upright position and prevented fromfalling off of the chain during movement of the latter, by means of theguide rails 167 to opposite sides of the main frame member 49 and abovethe latter, said guide rails 167 being held in position by the shortsupporting uprights 168 having their lower ends secured to the oppositesides of the main frame member 4.9.

The poise or weight 41 is slidably engaged upon the horizontal arm ofthe equalizer bar 40, said poise having spaced upper fingers 169 with aslot 170 therebetween and a lower finger 171. The fingers 169 and 171are engaged around the horizontal arm of the equalizer bar 40 and thepoise or weight 41 carries the plate 172 resting in the lower finger 171and provided with teeth upon its upper face for engagement with theteeth 173'upon the lower face of the horizontal arm of the equalizer barto retain the poise or weight in adjusted position. It will beunderstood that the front face of the horizontal arm of the equalizerbar is provided with suitable markings 174 in order that the poise orweight 41 may be readily and accurately adjusted. Thepoise or weight 41is locked in adjusted position by means of the wing nut 175 engaged uponthe threaded upper end of the upwardly directed rod 176 projecting fromthe rear edge of the plate 172 and preferably formed with the same, thethreaded upper portion of the rod 176 extending upwardly through theslot 170 and the wing nut, when tightened, bearing upon the upper faceof the poise or weight 41.

It will be understood that the sleeve 75 and parts carried thereby areresiliently retained in normal position by the coil spring 7 5 havingone end connected with the sleeve while its opposite end is suitablyconnected with the framework. It will also be under stood that theclutch and operating mechanism for locking the friction wheel 96 forrotation with the shaft 94 are similar to the clutch and operatingmechanism for locking the friction wheel Stfor rotation with the shaftand clearly illustrated in Fig.

Therefore these parts have not been shown in detail in a separate view.lVhile any suitable electrical connections may be formed between thecontact plates and 61 the bars 78and '76, I have shown two magnets 177and 178' positioned respectively adjacent the free ends of the bars 73and 106 for attracting these bars when the contact plates 58 and 59carried by the equalizer bar flo'fll'e properly engaged with the respective contact plates 60 and 61 carried by the U-shaped guide member38, as previously described. It will beunderstood that a battery 179 isprovided and suitable conducting wires 180 provided to form electri calconnections between the magnets 177 and 178, contact plates 60, 61, 5Sand 59, and the battery 179. It will be evident that any suitableelectricalconnections may be provided between the contact plates and thebars 73 and 106..

It is believed that the operation of the device will bereadilyunderstoodfrom the foregoing taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings andtherefore an extended explanation 'of i the operation is deemedunnecessary. The operation willbe briefly stated as follows: The cansare placed in the chute 132 and will be separated and raised, one at atime, by the can separating and raising wheel 135 and deposited upon thecurved spokes of the can righting wheels 142 and as these wheels arecontinually rotated toward one another, each can deposited upon the samewillbe turned to upright position and its closed end deposited upon thetraveling endless chain 50: One of the can engaging fingers 56 willengage thecan and cause the same to move with-the chain 50 until itreaches the table 36'. As thecan passes over the forward edge of thetable, it passes between the tri 'er bars and 70 and thereb se )aratessaid trigger bars. As previously described, outward movement of thetrigger bar 33 will operate the mechanism supporting the free end of thehorizontal arm of the equalzer bar 1O and allow the latter to swing toits lowermost position. This movement of gages the upper open end of thecan with i the reduced lower end of the spout 18. As the equalizer barreaches its lowermost position, the engagement of the contact plate 59with the contact plate 61 turns the sleeve 103 through the electricalconnections previously described, and disengages the clutch member 81from the clutch member 83, and engages the clutch member with therebycausing oper- 0 feed the sauer raised can. i ii?! 05 dcusly gage thecontact plate 58 with the contact plate 60, thereby breaking one circuitand closing another to allow the magnet 177 to draw the bar 7 the table36 and bring the next can into position to be filled in the same manneras the can or cans ahead of the same. This return movement of theequalizer bar 10 and engagement of the contact plate 58 with the contactplate also breaks the circuit with which is connected the magnet 178 andthere by allows the arm 106 to be moved away from the magnet 17S and thesleeve 103 to rotate under action of the spring 101 and therebydisengage the clutch members 97 and 98 and discontinue operation of thefeed screw 15. It will be understood, however, that as each can isbrought to position between the trigger bars and 70, and then depositedupon the table 30, the same operation just described will take place,thereby filling the cans and carrying the same to the rear end of themachine in turn.- It will also be understood that when desired, any setof can feeding, righting, and filling mechanism may be thrown out ofoperation by raising the proper sleeve 150, as previously described. I

ld hile I have shown the preferred form of my invention it will beunderstood that minor changes may be made in the details of constructionand arrangements of the various parts of the machine and I therefore donot wish to be limited to the specificconstruction and arrangement ofparts as shown in the drawings and described in the specification.

As shown in Fig. 2-11, the sprocket wheel 122 is loosely mounted uponthe shaft 12 and has formed therewith the clutch member 122 which isresiliently retained in engage ment with the clutch member 187 by meansof the coil spring 188 bearing against the opposite face or" thesprocket wheel 122, one end of said spring being engaged. against theflange 189 formed on the outer extremity of the shaft 12, as clearlyshown in 1; 1e drawings. It will be understood that the clutch member187 is rigidly mounted upon the shaft 12 and owing that the clutchmember 122 1 the sprocket whee gement 3 forwardly and thereby engage theclutch member 81 with the clutch .member 83 to cause the chain 50 toagain move and carry the filled can away from clogged in the hoppers andoperation of the turret 13 retarded ortemporarily prevented, therebyeliminating all danger of breaking these parts.

'VVhat I claim is 1. A machine of the characterdescribed comprising amain hopper, a lower feed hopper, anintermediate hopper, means in themain hopper for feeding material to the, intermediate hopper, a spoutcarried by the feed'hopper, feeding means in the feed hopper, meanscarried by the intermediate hopper for depositing material from the mainhopper to the feeding means and preventing clogging of the same, a tablebeneath the spout, a valve for the spout, means for placlng a can uponthe table, means for raising the table when a can is placed upon thesame to present said canto the spout, means for opening the valve andstarting operation of the feeding means upon upward movement of thetable, said table being adapted to move downwardly with its can afterthe same has been filled from the spout of the feed hopper, means forclosing the valve, and means for stopping operation of the feedingmeans, and withdrawing the can upon return of the table to normalposition. 2. A machine of the character described comprising a feedhopper, a spout depending from the said hopper, feeding means withinsaid hopper and extending into the upper end of the spout, an endlesscan conveyer beneath the spout, means for feeding cans to the conveyer,a table in the path of the can conveyer and beneath the spout, means forsupporting the table, an equalizer bar connected with the table, latchmechanism for retaining the equalizer bar in its uppermost position,means for stopping movement of the can conveyer as a can upon the sameis brought to position above the table, means for releasing at this timethe latch mechanism, and thereby allowing the equalizer bar to drop andraise the table with the can upon the same to bring the can to the mouthof the spout, means for starting operation of the feeding means upondownward movement of the equalizer bar, the table being adapted to bereturned to its normal position by the weight of the material fed to'thecan, the downward movement of the table causing the equalizer bar tobereturned to its uppermost position, means whereby the return of theequalizer to its uppermost position will prevent further operation ofthe feed screw and again start operation of the can conveyer to withdrawthe filled can from upon the table and bring another can into position.

3. A. machine of the character described comprising a feed hopper,feeding means within the hopper, a spout at one end of the feed screwand having a reduced lowerend, a main frame member, a vertically movabletable within said frame member, a can conveyer adapted for movement overthe tables to bring a can into position above the latter, an equalizerbar connected with the table, means for retaining the equalizer bar ininoperative position, a valve for the spout, a dog for operating thevalve, said dog being normally out of engagement with the valve, a pairof trigger bars to either side of the can conveyer and adapted to beseparated by a can brought therebetween by the conveyer as the canreaches the table, connections between the dog and trigger bars,connections between the trigger bars and the means for retaining theequalizer bar in inoperative position, whereby as the can passes betweenthe trigger bars the equalizer bar will be released and the dog will bethrown into position to engage the valve and open the latter, saidequalizer bar when released being adapted to move downwardly and raisethe table to engage the can with the reduced end of the spout, means foroper ating the feeding means to feed material to' the can while thelatter is engaged with the spout, said table and can being adapted to amove downwardly after the latter has been filled and return theequalizer bar to normal position, and means for starting operation ofthe can conveyer to withdraw the filled can-and bring another intoposition upon return of the table to its lowermost position. i

4. A machine of the character described comprising a feed hopper, aspout depending from the feed hopper, a table beneath the spout, a canconveyer movably engaged over the table, means for feeding cans to theconveyer, means for righting each can as the same is fed to theconveyer, an engaging fingers carried by the conveyer causing the cansto move with said conveyer, a main frame member, the table and conveyerbeing mounted in the main frame member, means for stopping operation ofthe conveyer as a can upon the same is brought to position above thetable, means for raising the table as a can is brought to position abovethe same to present theopen end of the can to the feed spout, and meansfor filling the can from the spout of the hopper, said can and tablebeing adapted to be caused to move downwardly by the weight of thematerial and can after the latter has been filled, the downward movementof the table causing the conveyer to again operate to withdraw thefilled can and, bring another into position.

5. A machine of the character described comprising a main hopper and afeed hopper, means for supplying material to the eed hopper from themain hopper, means or returning to the main hopper any exessive amountof material deposited upon the means for supplying material to the feedhopper and thereby preventing clogging of the feed hopper, a spout forvthe feed hopper, a can conveyer beneath the feed hopper, a tablebeneath the spout and inthe path of the can conveyer, means foroperating the can conveyer, means for feeding cans to the can conveyer,guide rails for the cans, said conveyer being adapted to deposit thecans in succession upon the table, means for causing upward movement ofthe table and stopping operation of the conveyer operating means when acan is-placed upon the table, the upward movement of the table causingthe upper end of the can to engage with the spout, means for opening thespout and feeding material from the feed hopper to the can by way of thespout when said can is engaged therewith, the table being adapted tomove downwardly with the can when the latter is filled, and means foragain throwing into operation the conveyer operating means and closingthe spout when the can and table return to normal position.

6. A machine of the character described comprising a supportingframework, an

endless can conveyer mounted in said framework, means for feeding cansto one end of the endless conveyer, a plate positioned in the path ofthe endless c'onveyer, an-equal-- izer bar connected with said plate,means for looking the equalizer bar in its uppermost position wherebythe plate will be normally retained in its lowermost position, a hopperabove said plate, a spout depending from said hopper, a valve for saidspout, said conveyer being adapted to deposit the cans in successionupon the plate, can guiding means above and to either side of the plate,eonnections between the equalizer bar locking means and the can guldingmeans, whereby the equalizer bar Wlll be released as a can travelsbetween the can guiding means, the

nected with said plate, a can guiding means to either side of said plateand mounted on the framework, means for locking the equalizer bar in itsuppermost position, means for operating the endless conveyer, a hopperabove the plate, a spout for said hopper, a valve for said spout,operating means for said valve, connections between the can guidingmeans and the means for locking the equalizer bar in its uppermostposition,

connections between said can guiding means and the valve operatingmeans, and connections between the opposite portion of the canguidingmeans and the conveyer operating means.

In testimony whereof I hereunto, affix my signature in the presence oftwowitnesses. FRANK M. WRIGHT.

' Witnesses:

J. E. Jnnnnves, Eva E, LINHARD.

